Internal combustion engines commonly employ cold start devices, such as a glow plug, to assist in ignition. Existing engine designs commonly have glow plugs located inside the engine valve cover. A glow plug is generally used to preheat the combustion chamber mixture of a diesel engine or an auto-ignition internal combustion engine to assist in cold starting. The single glow plug corresponding to a combustion chamber is generally secured to or installed in the cylinder head of the engine such that there is an equal number of combustion chambers and glow plugs. For example, a diesel engine with a V-8 configuration has a total of eight glow plugs with four glow plugs on each cylinder bank.
Each glow plug is typically electronically connected to a power source via a single glow plug connector attached to an under-cover valve cover wire harness. The under-cover valve cover wire harness is then appropriately electronically connected to an external engine harness that is in turn connected to an engine power source. The interface between under-valve cover and external harnesses provides a sealing function that prevents engine oil leakage. In the interior of the valve cover, the glow plug connectors, attached to the under-cover valve cover wire harness, are individually connected to corresponding glow plugs. This arrangement often times leads to crowding of engine components in the limited space under the valve cover. Also, the installation of each glow plug connector to each glow plug terminal results in increased manufacturing time and costs.
Further, mounting existing wire harness glow plug connectors individually to the glow plugs can be difficult, time consuming and requires some force to push and connect the wire harness connectors to the glow plug terminals. The wire harness connectors may be connected manually or with special insertion tools. Due to the limited space under the valve cover, it is difficult to individually install glow plug connectors properly to corresponding glow plug terminals. Many times, the resultant electrical connection between the glow plug connector and the glow plug terminal is at times not secure and electrically inadequate. As a result, electrical testing is typically required to verify that there is adequate electrical contact between the glow plug connector and the glow plug terminal. The required testing is a drawback that also leads to increased engine manufacturing time and cost.
Accordingly, there is a need for a glow plug connection apparatus that is easy to install, prevents engine oil leaks, and results in a consistently good electrical connection between the glow plug connector and glow plug, thereby reducing engine manufacturing time and costs.